The German company Lilium, which wanted to build flying cars for taxi operations, has to give up after 10 years. The dream has been extinguished and all employees have been fired.
German flying car developer Lilium has laid off all its employees and ceased operations. The company, which had a vision of revolutionizing the transportation sector with electric flying taxis, has filed for bankruptcy after a failed search for capital.
This is what Bild writes.
Lilium had been around for more than a decade and had already developed prototype flying cars with a futuristic design that could take off and land vertically. According to Bild, the company had orders for 106 electric planes and another 600 pre-orders.
Despite pilotless test flights and plans for a manned test flight in early 2025, Lilium had to admit that the dream of flying cars had been dashed. The company, which is listed on the US Nasdaq stock exchange, had reported losses in the millions for years.
Patrick Nathen, one of Lilium's co-founders, expressed his disappointment on LinkedIn.
"The company that Daniel, Sebastian, Matthias and I founded can no longer pursue our shared belief in greener aviation. It breaks my heart and the timing feels painfully ironic," it said in an update.
According to Bild, Lilium's decline is due to the complex and expensive technical requirements associated with developing flying cars. Around 1,000 employees have lost their jobs as a result of the bankruptcy.
Lilium's story is an example of how difficult it can be to realize ambitious technological visions, even with significant investment and innovation.
Although Lilium failed to realize its dream of flying cars, it may not be the end of the story. On Christmas Eve, the company announced that it had found a partner to take over the healthy parts of the business. The deal must first be approved by German authorities, however.
However, it is uncertain when we will see flying cars become part of our everyday lives. Bankruptcies, on the other hand, are not uncommon. There have been several of these this year alone. And even more may be on the way. Read more about it here .
